Clockwork Aquario
Image: Strictly Limited Games

Strictly Limited Games has finally confirmed that it is bringing Westone' lost arcade title Clockwork Aquario (known as Tokeijikake no Aquario in Japan) to modern-day systems, including Switch.

Originally developed in 1992 by Ryuichi Nishizawa – famous for his work on the Wonder Boy series – the game was built on Sega's System 18 arcade hardware. However, it was never released and was, until recently, assumed lost in the mists of time.

Strictly Limited has managed to find the source code for the game and has worked with ININ Games and Sega to revive it. This task has required new material to be created, as some elements – such as sound effects, music and some graphics – were not recoverable from the source code. In order to do this, members of the original Westone team have been called in, including chief programmer Takanori Kurihara, composer Shinichi Sakamoto and Ryuichi Nishizawa himself.

Nishizawa said:

Clockwork Aquario is a great piece of 2D art, into which the pixel artists put their hearts and souls. I would like to express my heartfelt respect and gratitude to those who have worked so hard to restore it.

As well as getting a digital release this year, limited physical editions will also be made available.